J&J Wins Trial Challenging Abbott Patents on Psoriasis Drug

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Johnson & Johnson won its challenge
to two Abbott Laboratories patents on antibodies that help curb
the effects of the painful skin disease psoriasis.

A federal jury in Worcester, Massachusetts, today said the
patent claims were invalid. U.S. District Judge Dennis Saylor
had ruled in March that J&J’s Stelara drug infringed the
patents. Had the jury found in Abbott’s favor, the case would
have proceeded to determine how much J&J should pay.

The patents in the case are for human antibodies that
control a substance called interleukin-12, or IL-12, that
regulates the immune system. Overproduction of the substance
triggers an overactive immune system response, which in turn
causes excess skin cells that pile up and form painful and
disfiguring plaques, according to the complaint.

“We believe our patents are valid and are evaluating our
options, including a possible appeal,” said Adelle Infante, a
spokeswoman for Abbott Park, Illinois-based Abbott.

J&J argued that Abbott didn’t properly explain what it
claimed to have invented, and the inventions covered obvious
variations of earlier know-how that relied on standard research
methods. J&J’s Janssen Biotech unit said it was pleased that the
jury agreed.

“We will continue to vigorously defend all intellectual
property for Stelara,” said Monica Neufang, a spokeswoman for
Janssen.

Psoriasis Drug

Stelara, whose chemical name is ustekinumab, generated $281
million in U.S. sales in the first six months of the year, a 37
percent increase over the year-ago period, New Brunswick, New
Jersey-based J&J said July 17. That’s 0.9 percent of total sales
for the period.

Abbott has been working on its own drug, known as
briakinumab, for severe psoriasis. In January 2011, the company
withdrew its application to get the drug approved in the U.S.
and Europe, after regulators called for more analysis and
possible new studies.

The Stelara suit was filed in 2009, after J&J won a record
$1.67 billion patent-infringement verdict against Abbott over a
process used to make Abbott’s arthritis drug Humira. A U.S.
appeals court last year threw out the verdict -- the largest in
U.S. history -- after saying the J&J patents were invalid.

Abbott Park, Illinois-based Abbott has another case pending
against J&J over the arthritis medicine Simponi, which generated
$410 million last year for J&J. That case is pending, also in
Worcester.